Darroca settles for silver in Asian Youth tenpin tilt

Jose Paolo Darroca emerged as the only Filipino medalist in the recent 17th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship after settling for the silver in the boys’ all events.

NATIONAL junior bowler Jose Paolo Darroca won a silver medal in the 17th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship after settling for a runner-up finish in the boys’ all events class at the 60-lane South China Athletic Association Bowling Center in Hong Kong recently.

The 20-year-old Darroca posted total pin falls of 3857 total pin falls as he finished second behind gold medal winner Billy Muhammad Islam of Indonesia, who tallied 3955.

Diwan Rezaldy Syahril accounted for the bronze medal with total pin falls of 3845.

“I didn’t expect to win a medal coming to the competition. My goal was to do my best, and winning a medal would be a bonus,” said Darroca, a student of Asia and the Pacific University.

“Next year will be the world youth championship in Hong Kong. I will train hard for it.”

Although the other seven Filipino junior bowlers failed to win any medals, PH youth head coach Carlos De Leon remained satisfied of the team’s performance since most of the 21 countries that competed, including Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, were very competitive.

“Our players did their very best but the competition was very tough,” said De Leon, who earlier predicted the country won’t go home empty-handed in the tournament.

Other than Darroca, comprising the team are Enrico Lorenzo Hernandez, Ivan Dominic Malig and Jose Mari Tajo and the girls’ team composed of Madeline Mae Llamas, Jailah Mara Ramirez, Jhoana Lualhati and Christelle Peig.

The biennial tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Bowling Federation and the World Tenpin Bowling Association.

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